M-W poised for year of revenge

Two losses last season have stuck with members of the Monroe-Woodbury girls' basketball.

WILLIAM MONTGOMERY

Two losses last season have stuck with members of the Monroe-Woodbury girls' basketball.

The first, with the Crusaders off to a 5-0 start, was a 24-point loss to Arlington on Jan. 3, 2012.

Last week, Monroe-Woodbury had a chance for redemption, beating No. 22-ranked Arlington 59-51 to improve to 7-0.

"I think it just shows how much we've matured," senior Kristen Walsh said of the win over Arlington. "We're more confident and we're more ready."

The second loss from last season came in the Section 9 Class AA playoffs, when Monroe-Woodbury, the top seed, was upset at home in the semifinals by fifth-seeded Valley Central, 33-29. The Crusaders, ranked No. 21 in the state in Class AA, are using their memories from that game as motivation for another second chance when the postseason begins in late February.

"We were thinking about that all preseason," Walsh said. "We let that slip and it was really hard. We needed that. We wanted that really bad. We know this year it's ours. We're supposed to have it. We're expecting it, but we're taking it one game at a time. At the end of the season, we want that championship."

Just like last year, the Crusaders are built around a deep lineup.

Starting guards Kerrie Walsh, a senior, and Kerry McHugh, a junior — who split duties between the point guard and shooting guard positions — lead the team in scoring with 13.7 and 13.6 points per game, respectively. Kristen Walsh is third with 7.9 points. Behind them are nine players who average between 1.7 and 3.7 points.

That means Monroe-Woodbury isn't reliant on one or two star players to carry the load. On any given night, the team has 12 players capable of making a big play.

"That's a big asset to our team," said junior Lindsay Clifford, the team's leading rebounder. "One person isn't the main scorer. Everyone can score, so we pass the ball around and anyone can finish."

"We work together more as a team," McHugh said. "We've been playing with each other since we were little. I think we're just a unit. We work the ball well. I don't know, we're just a good package."

Not only do the Crusaders feel they have the personnel to run a fast-break style of play, they have plenty of motivation from last year's playoff loss to energize their push to the postseason.

"I think this year we're looking at it one game at a time," Kerrie Walsh said. "We're not looking forward to sections yet. On any given night, anyone can have a bad game, but the way we practice, I don't think it's going to happen this year. We've been taking it a lot more seriously."